Felt Authenticity Research Articles

Strategic Authenticity: Signaling Authenticity Without Undermining Professional Image in Workplace Interactions

Increasing demands to be seen as authentic at work have created a paradox of self-presentation for employees: the desire to be seen as simultaneously true to self and professionally appropriate in workplace interactions. The present paper introduces one way in which individuals may navigate this tension: strategic authenticity, a self-presentational approach that involves enacting behaviors intended to increase colleagues’ perceptions of one’s authenticity while accounting for individual and contextual factors that influence one’s professional image. I propose that the behavioral signals of social deviations (nonconformity and spontaneity) and self-expressions (transparency and vulnerability) increase colleagues’ perceptions of a worker’s authenticity but pose a threat to their professional image. Next, I highlight how felt authenticity and the degree of perceived violation of social expectations (i.e., benign versus taboo signal content and aligning with communal versus agentic norms) moderate the impact of signals on perceptions of authenticity and professional image, suggesting that strategic authenticity can be achieved via a careful selection of behaviors based on individual and contextual factors. Last, I consider how the enactment of strategic authenticity leads to high-quality connections at work, which over time, may lead to the formation of positive relationships (enhanced by an actor’s felt authenticity). This paper extends prior scholarship on authenticity, professional image construction, and high-quality connections by highlighting how to balance interpersonal goals to appear authentic and at the same time, maintain a desirable professional image in workplace interactions.

The moderating role of perceived partner responsiveness on the association between communal orientation and subjective well-being

This study examined whether perceived partner responsiveness in romantic relationships would moderate the association between communal orientation and subjective well-being. An online survey was conducted among 516 Japanese adults involved in romantic relationships. Participants first completed the Communal Orientation Scale and answered questions about their perceived partner responsiveness. Participants were then asked to recollect their experiences when they provided benefits to their partner in the past month and to indicate their feelings about these experiences. Finally, participants completed scales measuring subjective well-being (Life Satisfaction Scale and the PANAS). The results revealed a positive association between communal orientation and subjective well-being, observed only among those who perceived high partner responsiveness. Contrary to the hypotheses, moderated mediation effects of participants’ felt authenticity and regret in providing benefits to their romantic partner were not found. These results suggest that communal orientation is more likely to be associated with one’s well-being when individuals feel secure about their partner’s responsiveness.

What Good is Organizational Nostalgia in the Time of Pandemic? Unpacking a Pathway from COVID-Related Stress to Authenticity at Work

ABSTRACT We propose that COVID-related stress undermines felt authenticity, but also triggers nostalgia. In turn, nostalgia conduces to felt authenticity, thereby counteracting the deleterious impact of COVID-related stress. We tested this regulatory model of nostalgia in two studies. Study 1 was an online cross-sectional study during the pandemic, in which we assessed COVID-related stress, nostalgia, and authenticity. In Study 2, we followed a group of working adults in a daily diary study across five workdays. We assessed COVID-related stress each morning, organizational nostalgia at midday, and authenticity at the end of the workday. The results of both studies were consistent with the palliative role of nostalgia in support of the regulatory model.

Masquerading their way to authenticity: Does age stigma concealment benefit older women?

As women age they can be subject to both sexism and ageism, and consequently be stereotyped as low in competence and irrelevant despite having a relatively young subjective age. Drawing on theories of stigma, we conducted a survey study of older women (N = 184) with a strong interest in fashion and their visual image. We used template thematic analysis to understand their experiences in relation to their age-changed appearance. Two major themes were identified: unfavourable experiences of ageism and efforts to evade these experiences through attention to appearance. Our participants employed masquerade to conceal or reduce the visible evidence of their age—both to avoid ageism and to align their outward appearance more closely with their inner, felt, authentic selves. We interrogate the benefits and penalties of concealment for a group whose stigmatised condition is dynamic, changing as their appearance grows increasingly dissimilar to societally favoured youthfulness. Masquerade may for this group of women produce more positive than negative outcomes, via effects on felt authenticity.

Individual and Group Predictors of Workplace Ostracism and Employee Coping

We presents four studies to examine the individual, group, and family predictors of workplace ostracism. Using advanced survey research methods (experience sampling method, multi-level survey, and three-wave time-lagged design), the authors tested predictors of workplace ostracism, such as employees’ task proactivity, group cognitive diversity and group time pressure, and (lack of) family supportive supervision and family-to-work conflict. The authors also showed that employees responded to supervisor ostracism with emotion faking, which was related to more burnout and less felt authenticity. Task Proactivity and Workplace Ostracism: The Moderating Effect of Team Envy Presenter: Cong Liu; Hofstra U. Presenter: Shiyong Xu; Renmin U. of China Presenter: Bainan Zhang; Renmin U. of China Presenter: Lindsay Pyc; McKinsey & Company, Inc Presenter: Aarti Polavarapu; Hofstra U. Presenter: Brian Goldfeder; Hofstra U. Presenter: Swapnil Kalra; Hofstra U. Presenter: Sami Abdelal; Hofstra U. Group Non-Purposeful Ostracism: Its Antecedents and Outcomes Presenter: Amer Ali Al-Atwi; Al Muthanna U. Presenter: Joshua Cogswell; Nicholls State U. Linking Family-Supportive Supervision, Family-to-Work Conflict, and Workplace Ostracism Presenter: Malgorzata Gamian-Wilk; SWPS U. of Social Sciences and Humanities Presenter: Marta Luszczykiewicz; SWPS U. of Social Sciences and Humanities Presenter: Konrad Smolak; SWPS U. of Social Sciences and Humanities Supervisor Ostracism, Interpersonal Goals, and Employees’ Emotion Faking Presenter: Xixi Gu; China U. of Political Science and Law Presenter: Cong Liu; Hofstra U.

Feeling at Home in Two Cultural Worlds: Bicultural Identity Integration Moderates Felt Authenticity

Bicultural individuals navigate and identify with two cultures. Biculturals differ in levels of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII)—how much their two cultural identities are combined and compatible (high BII) versus divided and conflicting (low BII). We hypothesized that during conformity in cultural ingroup contexts, biculturals with low BII feel inauthentic (being untrue to themselves), whereas biculturals with high BII feel authentic (being true to themselves). Across four experiments with Asian-Americans, expressing cultural conformity (vs. non-conformity) in Asian or American contexts produced felt inauthenticity among participants with low BII but not high BII (Studies 1–3). Felt inauthenticity was due to cultural identity threat (perceived identity exclusion) (Study 2). Activating self-kindness counteracted felt inauthenticity for low BII participants during cultural conformity (Study 3) and produced felt authenticity (Study 4). Our findings imply that responding kindly to the self makes biculturals at ease in their cultural homes, at least temporarily.

Me, Me, and Me: The Process of Felt (In)Authenticity at Work through Multiple Referent Selves

Authenticity is often positioned as the straightforward alignment between one’s inner self and outward behaviors. However, this traditional conceptualization fails to account for the possibility that individuals balance being authentic to multiple coexisting selves. We build on existing work in authenticity, self and identity, and communications to propose an alternative perspective: that individuals simultaneously have an unfiltered self (based on a lack of restraints), a normative self (based on sensible categories), and an aspirational self (based on ideals) that serve to meet competing intrapersonal needs for self-verification, self-regulation, and self-enhancement, respectively. We posit that individuals rely on different logics to communicate with others about these referent selves in order to enact authenticity. In turn, behavioral (mis)alignment with one’s intended message about the self shapes felt (in)authenticity, which informs self-conscious emotions (pride, shame, guilt) reflecting individuals’ self-evaluations that, over time, influence individuals’ identification with the organization. Overall, our theoretical framework offers an alternative conceptualization of the dynamic process of authenticity. Specifically, it suggests that the particular path by which individuals feel (in)authentic in given episodes—rather than simply whether they feel authentic—may be more critical for both individual well-being and organizational relationships than currently believed.

The Structural, Organizational, and Societal Shape of Authenticity

Given the benefits of authenticity for individuals and their organizations, the goal of this symposium is to explore the social dynamics of authenticity, with a particular focus on how authenticity is socially constructed. Our focus complements past research on authenticity, which has primarily focused on the individual processes that prompt authenticity (Heppner et al., 2008; Peus, Wesche, Streicher, Braun, & Frey, 2012; Sheldon, Ryan, Rawsthorne, & Ilardi, 1997). In contrast to that approach, we adopt a social and organizational lens, examining how various structural and contextual factors—including hierarchical and intergroup processes—affect authenticity. Bringing together studies that explore both felt and perceived authenticity, we help to shed light on the complex, dynamic nature of authenticity. Utilizing experimental, archival, and observational methods, these four papers speak to the many ways authenticity can be influenced by social and organizational contexts. Additionally, this set of papers illuminate important psychological, physical, and interpersonal underpinnings of authenticity. To this end, the first two talks in this symposium explore the complex relationship between power and authenticity. Specifically, Bailey demonstrates how a seemingly simple decision—choosing one’s attire—shapes task engagement via feelings of authenticity. Further, emphasizing the importance of felt authenticity, these findings suggest that authenticity explains the effect of attire on workplace outcomes better than feelings of power. Building upon this paper, Carter reveals that social status, rather than power, facilitates greater authentic expression. Taken together, these first two talks clarify how power and authenticity relate to one another and emphasize how external factors, like dress codes and social hierarchy, may affect people’s ability to authentically express themselves at work. Resultantly, these results shed light on the ways that social dynamics impact authenticity. The final two talks explore how the strategies individuals adopt to navigate intergroup interactions impact both felt and perceived authenticity. These concluding talks focus on how identity and context interact to inform dynamics related to authenticity. Brown finds that in an effort to combat intergroup bias, stigmatized individuals may choose to downplay their identities, resulting in diminished feelings of authenticity. Finally, Ponce de Leon discusses perceptions of white allyship from the perspective of Black observers, revealing that whites who signal allyship through consistent and costly acts are viewed as less instrumentally motivated and, in turn, more authentic. Following these presentations, Sheena S. Iyengar will proctor a discussion on what authenticity is, how individuals create and express themselves in their organizations, and future directions for the organizational antecedents of authenticity.

Feelings of Parental Authenticity Moderate Concurrent Links Between Breastfeeding Experience and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

A negative breastfeeding experience is a contextual risk factor for the development of postpartum depressive symptoms among mothers. Many current interventions targeted at disrupting this association rely on the ability to make breastfeeding experiences positive. As a beginning step toward identifying alternative approaches, we investigated a potential psychological buffer of the negative relation between breastfeeding experience and symptoms of postpartum depression: feeling authentic in one's role as a parent. Authenticity appears to enhance well-being and buffer negative outcomes more generally, but has largely gone unaddressed in mothers, particularly during the critical peripartum period when depressive symptoms are at increased prevalence. We tested whether three facets of felt authenticity in the parent role (authentic living, acceptance of external influence, and self-alienation) moderated the association between satisfaction with breastfeeding experience and postpartum depressive symptoms in mothers (N = 92, 81% White, 85% non-Hispanic, college-educated, Mage = 30.49). We found that mothers who felt high in authentic living in the parent role showed fewer depressive symptoms when breastfeeding experiences were positive. In addition, we found that the association between negative breastfeeding experience and greater postpartum depression was mitigated when feelings of self-alienation in the parent role, or the sense that one is unaware of or disconnected from who “she really is” as a mother, were low. This work suggests that enhancing women's feelings of connectedness to “who they truly are” as a mother may be protective against some of the negative mental health effects linked to problems with breastfeeding.

Authenticating and Legitimizing Transgender and Gender Non-conforming Identities Online: A Discourse Analysis

The number of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) individuals who are presenting for counseling is increasing; yet counselors receive little to no exposure to gender-diversity throughout their education and training. TGNC individuals have reported receiving discriminatory experiences within therapy and ineffectual outcomes. Consistent with social-justice practice, knowledge of how clients understand themselves is necessary to enhance the outcomes of counseling. A key resource TGNC individuals are using to engage in identity exploration is online communities. We applied discourse analysis to analyze the talk and text of three such online communities, and explored: “How do self-identifying TGNC individuals construct their identity when they discuss their related experiences online?” We identified that individuals made sense of their identity using three discourses: (a) felt sense, (b) authenticity, and (c) legitimacy. Individuals constructed their identity using linguistic resources to resist systemic oppression and claim their identities as valid and real. We offer suggestions for infusing this insight into trans-affirmative practice.

THE Anxiety of Authenticity: THE Historical Reception of Broken Blossoms (1919), Shanghai Express (1932) and The Good Earth (1937) in China

This article analyses the authenticity principles connected to Hollywood’s portrayal of China and the Chinese through three important American films screened or banned in China – Broken Blossoms (1919), Shanghai Express (1932), and The Good Earth (1937) – but with a special focus on both the historical reception and censorship of these films within China itself. It is argued that the feeling of (in)authenticity played an important role in Chinese audiences’ appreciation of Hollywood narratives about the Chinese. Rather than focusing on the realistic or unrealistic depiction of the films, it is more effective to consider authenticity as a felt experience of emotional engagement and deeply felt sensuality. The felt authenticity signifies different constructed experiences and views which are rooted in different cultures and societies. The frequent appearance of ‘Chinese’ in American films produced in the first half of twentieth century had a ripple effect that impacted the Chinese public’s own self-perception and self-recognition. The yearning for authenticity – expressed in the form of the government's censorship standards and procedures, as well as widespread protest in Chinese communities domestically and abroad – connected profoundly to the emerging sense of national identity.

Social Anxiety and the Generation of Positivity During Dyadic Interaction: Curiosity and Authenticity Are the Keys to Success

What drives positive affective and interpersonal experiences during social interaction? Undergraduates with high (n = 63) or low (n = 56) trait social anxiety (SA) were paired with unfamiliar low SA partners in a 45-minute conversation task. Throughout the task, participants and their conversation partners completed measures of affiliative goals, affect, curiosity, authenticity, and attentional focus. Both affective and interpersonal outcomes were assessed. Dyadic analyses revealed that participants’ affiliative goals during the social interaction predicted positive outcomes for both themselves and their partners, although the link between affiliative goals and positive affect was weaker for participants with high SA. Mediation analyses demonstrated that adopting affiliative goals may promote more positive outcomes by increasing participants’ curiosity and felt authenticity. Taken together, results illuminate the pathways through which people with varying levels of trait SA may derive interpersonally generated positive affect and positive social outcomes, with implications for clinical theory and practice.

Consequences of enactment and concealment for felt authenticity: Understanding the effects of stigma through self‐distancing and motive fulfillment

AbstractGrounded in Motivated Identity Construction Theory and Self‐Determination Theory, two studies examined the consequences of identity enactment and concealment for motive fulfillment and explored how these mediate the negative effects of stigmatized identities on felt authenticity. Participants (Ns = 343 and 344) reported the extent to which they had enacted and/or concealed 8 to 12 of their identities in the past 3 days and evaluated their motive fulfillment and felt authenticity. Using multilevel modeling, we found that identity enactment positively predicted felt authenticity via motive satisfaction, while concealment negatively predicted authenticity via thwarted motive satisfaction. Identities were coded with respect to stigmatization in Study 2 and stigmatized identities felt relatively less authentic, with effects mediated through suppressed enactment, heightened concealment, and thwarted motives. Thus, stigmatized identities do not inherently feel less authentic, rather it is individuals’ self‐distancing behaviors that impair feelings of authenticity for a stigmatized identity.

Why do emotional labor strategies differentially predict exhaustion? Comparing psychological effort, authenticity, and relational mechanisms.

Surface acting has repeatedly been found to harm employee well-being, but weak or inconsistent findings have been reported for deep acting. A theoretical explanation put forth by researchers to explain this is that opponent processes may be involved in deep acting. Accordingly, there are countering processes in place for deep acting, effectively yielding a weak or null relationship with indicators of strain or well-being. Although often cited, this claim has never been tested empirically. The current study addresses this question by exploring the relationship between deep acting and emotional exhaustion via 3 underlying mechanisms: (a) psychological effort, (b) feelings of authenticity, and (c) rewarding interactions. Specifically, we expected that although being effortful, deep acting also results in feelings of authenticity and rewarding interactions with customers. However, contrary to expectations, results from an experience-sampling study (involving 3 daily surveys over the course of 7 days) revealed that deep acting did not relate to any of these mechanisms, nor was it directly or indirectly related to emotional exhaustion. These findings challenge previous suggestions that there are countering processes in place for deep acting. In addition, analyses revealed significant indirect relationships of surface acting with emotional exhaustion that were mediated by psychological effort and felt authenticity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the conclusion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Social class and self-concept consistency: Implications for subjective well-being and felt authenticity

ABSTRACT Current accounts of social class (SES) hold that for upper-SES individuals, material advantages promote an orientation to the self and tendency to anchor behavior on internal states (e.g., traits), while for lower-SES individuals, fewer resources promote an orientation to others and responsiveness to the context. I extend this view to the domain of self-perception, demonstrating across two studies that upper-SES individuals express greater consistency in their self-views across contexts than lower SES-individuals, and that self-concept consistency is more strongly tied to subjective well-being among upper- than lower-SES individuals. In Study 2, I show that self-concept consistency is more strongly connected to felt authenticity among upper- than lower-SES individuals. I offer potential directions for future research in the General Discussion.

Humility breeds authenticity: How authentic leader humility shapes follower vulnerability and felt authenticity

Integrating existing work that considers the self through an interpersonal lens with theories pertaining to leader humility and authenticity, we develop a moderated mediation model that theorizes how and under what circumstances leader humility relates to follower felt authenticity. We argue that followers feel less vulnerable when their leaders express humility and further that this relation becomes weaker as the authenticity of leader humility decreases. We also theorize that follower vulnerability is the mechanism explaining the interactive effect of leader humility and its authenticity on follower felt authenticity at work. Our theoretical model was supported across four studies employing both correlational and experimental designs. These results contribute to our understanding of the interpersonal antecedents of authenticity at work as well as the growing body of research on the impact that leader humility has on important employee outcomes.

When and Why Do Leaders Feel Authentic? Investigating Antecedents of Leaders’ Felt Authenticity

This paper explores the question when and why leaders feel authentic at work. We tested a research model of personal resources and ethical work climates as predictors of leaders’ felt authenticity. Results from a daily diary study with 134 leaders surveyed on ten consecutive work days showed the predicted positive intra-individual variations between personal resources and felt authenticity. In a field study with 230 leaders surveyed at two points of measurement, this link was also established on an inter-individual level. We further found an indirect link from personal resources to felt authenticity via leaders’ promotion focus. In both studies, principle but not benevolent ethical work climates positively predicted leaders’ felt authenticity. Personal resources and stable organizational environments provide leaders with the certainty they need to feel true to their own self. Our findings advance the current understanding of factors that contribute to felt authenticity as a psychological state at work.

The Authenticity Gap: When Authentic Individuals are Not Regarded as Such and Why it Matters

Individuals feel authentic when they believe they act consistently with their values. However, others do not necessarily see such individuals as authentic. We explore the gap between felt and perceived authenticity and suggest that individuals’ prosocial orientation determines, jointly with felt authenticity, the extent to which they are perceived as authentic.We hypothesize that to be seen as authentic, one cannot deviate from universally accepted self-transcendence values by showing little prosocial concern. When that happens, felt authenticity paradoxically reduces the extent to which the individual is perceived as authentic because it signals the deviance from prosocial values is genuine. Consequently, the individual is liked less and, ultimately, seen as less effective at work.The data collected at a large private organization showed that, as we predicted, felt authenticity was detrimental for individuals with low prosocial orientation such that they were perceived as less authentic, liked less, and received lower job performance evaluations. However, felt authenticity did not affect social outcomes for individuals with high prosocial orientation.Our results suggest that universal self-transcendence values play a fundamental role in determining authenticity perceptions. When one’s behavior is inconsistent with universally accepted values, individual authenticity becomes a social liability.

Authenticity attenuates the negative effects of interpersonal conflict on daily well-being

Prior research has established a consistent relationship between felt authenticity and greater psychological and physical well-being. Nevertheless, a number of important questions remain regarding the role of authenticity in shaping individuals’ responses to stressful events in daily life. Interpersonal conflict in particular, has been established as one of the strongest contributors to daily stress, and a number of prior studies suggest that the negative effects of interpersonal conflict may be moderated by personality factors. The present work used a diary design to examine the role of trait authenticity in buffering individuals from the negative effects of interpersonal conflict. More importantly, we show that the protective role of trait authenticity functions independently from the previously established effects of agreeableness and neuroticism.

Separated from the Self: A Conceptual Model of the Emotional Labor-Dishonesty Relationship

This paper proposes a conceptual model explaining the differential effects of integrative and differentiating emotional display rules on emotional labor, felt authenticity, acts of dishonesty, and ...